October 2008

October 14, 2008

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. Psalm 22:5

It can be a difficult balance to strike as a mother between wanting your kids to have fun playing together while at the same time not getting too rough or wild in the process...(“No rough housing now; no jumping on the bed; no covering your sister in blankets even if she likes it; please be careful! ...Oh, but do have fun, I am glad you’re playing together.”)

Yesterday, Cole and Maya were busy “making a fort” on our bed. They were having so much fun together; I could hear lots of laughter and it made my heart so very happy.

That is until I heard...a BANG followed by the sound of crying. Cole yelled, “Mom, Maya fell off the bed and hit her head and got hurt.” I ran to Maya picked her up, held her and began to pray. Apparently, she had fallen on a pillow and had been quite startled by the fall. She did in fact hit her head on the wood floor, but it didn’t seem to be serious (didn’t even leave a bump.)

I turned to Cole and said, “ She’s O.K., but this is why I don’t like you guys playing on the bed.” Cole immediately broke into tears, saying, “You always do this...I always get in trouble when Maya gets hurt. It’s always my fault!” UUGGH, am I really doing the very thing as a mother that I had set out not to do? Making the older brother his younger sibling’s keeper.

“Cole, I am sorry! I am not saying it is your fault, I am just saying that playing on the bed for someone Maya’s age can be a little dangerous.” He kept crying, which made Maya cry all the more. “Maya please calm down you are going to be just fine and Cole I need you also to calm too down so that we can talk.” Well, that didn’t help at all; as a matter of fact, Cole began to cry harder and louder. “Cole, what is so wrong? Maya is fine and I am not angry with you at all. Why are you getting even more upset? Please come here so I can hold you also”

He came over and while lying in my arms he said, “Mom, its like Obama said about the ACOMONY, it’s bad and its just getting worse. That’s how I feel mom, bad and just getting worse..things are crumbling.”

After I quickly fought back my laughter about his reference to such a heady topic.... (Apparently some little ears were listening to the news channel when my in-laws had it on TV yesterday) I moved on to explain to Cole that, “even and especially when things seem bad, we must go to God to help us with our feelings so we can get better rather than worse. And that even when circumstances do get worse (at home or in the Acomony), God has the ability to help us and protect us in all those things which we have entrusted to Him in prayer!”

In a way I realized, once again, God was actually talking to me...about my kids, about our economy, about all things. About how I am called to go to Him with every fear, every offense, every trouble, every concern...whether these troubles I am facing are ones of my own making or not, I can and must go to Him in prayer, requesting His help. For He is able to keep that which we have entrusted to Him, just as the scriptures teach us. So, whether we are facing a mountain or a mole hill, or a total crumbling of our emotions due to our difficult circumstances, we must go to the One who is able to fulfill all His promises...for He is the God of peace, restoration, and provision.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6

October 03, 2008

You know that awkward feeling that happens sometimes when you get together with someone whom you haven't seen for a long time, and you just don't know where to begin. This is kind of how I feel blogging now. So, here goes....stream of consciousness.

We are now in Nashville for Emily Chapman and Tanner Richards' wedding which is taking place at the Chapman home tomorrow. We are really excited for this union because Emily and Tanner truly are a wonderful, God-designed, couple! Both loving the Lord and living in the light!

Several years ago, in St. Petersburg, Russia, I witnessed a Russian Orthodox wedding. At this wedding, I saw first-hand how the bridegroom places a crown upon the Bride's head signifying the heavenly crowning of the Bride of Christ at her great revealing to both heaven and earth. My most earnest prayer for Emily and her family is that they experience the blessing of this spiritual truth in some God-ordained way tomorrow. The Chapman family has had so much pain and so many ashes in their lives of late, and I am really praying that in some way God will make very real to them His heavenly promise, found in Isaiah 61:1-3, which says "He will bestow a crown of beauty in exchange for their ashes." On this day, may their months of mourning and the many ashes which they have laid at your feet and entrusted to your healing be replaced with the oil of gladness and a crown of beauty! Make it real to all who are present at this wedding celebration, Lord, for our blessing and your glory!

So, continuing in stream of consciousness...The women's retreat I taught at last weekend went extremely well. I am so grateful to those of you who prayed for my preparation and the hearts of the women who would be present. God showed up powerfully! Thank you! I learned so much about hope in my prep time and in the process of teaching! I used to think that trials make us hopeless, but I am learning that trials stop us from hoping in the wrong things and teach us to hope in the things which do not disappoint. Going from placing our deepest hopes in the things we can see to placing our deepest hopes in the things which we cannot see and are wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ.

I will share more about the things I learned in future blogs.

But here's one small tidbit...this morning I was practicing one of the things I shared with the women at the retreat. And it was about how we must choose to go to the places where God says that He lives in order to fully access the blessings of His grace and promises. His word say that He dwells in five things: praise, love, light, humility,and unity! And if we will go to Him by way of these paths, He will banish from us fear, discouragement, jealousy, bitterness, and confusion.

However, when we have spent a good bit of time away from Him, having chosen our own way and looking to place our hope in people and things, we just don't quite know where to begin...So, again, I suggest stream of consciousness. Just say "hello, again friend" and then speak what's on your heart!

Life is filled with relationships and relationships can be difficult... For me, I often struggle in relationships with wanting to be approved and accepted. Recently, I realized that it is these hard relationships, the ones where I am not being fully approved or accepted, which are actually giving me the greatest opportunity for visiting God where He lives. They are making me need God's love and acceptance all the more. And I am learning that by traveling down the road of praising Him for these little humblings, which come from these more difficult relationships, I end up finding Him! Finding Him in very real ways, every single time! Praising God in the humblings and for the humblings, takes us right into His holy location. Humility is a recognition of our worth apart from God and our need of God. And praise is a recognition of God's great worth, holiness, and His ability to meet our every need. These things combined, praise and humility, make for a powerful encounter with the God who loves us.

So, we go to Him and He comforts us in our hurts, provides for our needs, and gives us direction in our confusion.

But then, isn't it funny how when we are filled up by God and no longer feel that great need to be accepted and approved by men that the approval and acceptance seems to come. God allows it to come only after our demand for it has been removed, no longer standing as a mini idol in our lives. We go to God for our worth and security and then once we are found there, being approved and accepted in the Beloved alone, it is when the blessings of man flow most. And this, too, is God's love. He withholds from the wrong places so He can give to us from the right ones...from Him and through Him alone! All that to say, Hello, again friend!